Winter Wonderland
by GeminiFaerie
Summary: The year after the end of the war Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts for their final year. When the Christmas Holidays come around, Harry is one of only two students to remain at school-the other being Draco Malfoy. Having set aside their animosity after the war, the two former rivals spend the winter days together. Will a tentative friendship develop into something more?


AN: This story was originally written as a gift for Razra_Eizel as part of the 2014 Christmas Harry/Draco OwlPost on LiveJournal.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. I am making no money from this story.

"For the last time, I'll be fine," Harry shook his head as he shooed Ron and Hermione onto the train, "You need to spend some time alone with the family, and I really don't want to have to explain why you proposed to Hermione and I haven't proposed to Ginny. The train is about to leave, so go on." Ron nodded, but Hermione still looked distressed.

"But Harry-"

"Leave it, 'Mione," Ron interrupted his girlfriend, "He wants some time alone; I get that. You know Mum still expects him to get back with Ginny, and I don't blame him for not wanting to deal with it. If he changes his mind he can always go to Hogsmeade and apparate over. You will come over if you start to get lonely, right Mate?"

"I promise," Harry agreed, "Now have fun." Ron pulled his protesting girlfriend-or rather fiancé-onto the train and Harry waved at them for a few minutes until the Hogwarts Express had pulled away, taking most of the student population home for the Christmas Holidays. When Harry turned to head back up to the castle, he was startled to see Malfoy a few feet away; if Malfoy was as shocked to see him, the blond didn't show it.

"Potter," he nodded as Harry fell in step beside him, "I thought you would be spending the holidays with the Weasels."

"Don't call them that," Harry frowned, but held off on any further reprimand as Malfoy had said it without the usual hateful sneer, "I wanted to give Ron and Hermione a chance to spend time with the Weasley's without me, especially since Ron just proposed; I love Molly, but I know she's going to immediately demand to know when Ginny and I are getting back together, and I'm not quite ready to disappoint her yet."

"Does that mean you don't intend to propose to the Weaslette?" Draco smirked when Harry glared at him, "Well, many witches will be thrilled to know they still have a chance."

"Except they don't," Harry replied, "Ron, Hermione and Ginny already know, so I guess it can't hurt to tell you; I'm not interested in girls." Harry had the satisfaction of seeing Malfoy's eyes widen in shock, but he changed the subject before the blond could comment on his newly revealed secret. "What made you decide to stay here? I thought your mum would have wanted you home for Christmas."

"She did," Draco scowled, "She wanted to have a "Holiday Gala" to encourage me to find a wife. I told Mother that I needed to focus on my studies and that I would not be returning home until this summer."

"Well I think that makes us the only two students left at the castle," Harry said, "Most people want to spend time with their families; they seem to have a hard time believing it's all over." There was a brief silence after Harry's not-so-ambiguous reference to the war, and then he added, "I'm going to write a few letters, but I'll see you at dinner, yeah?"

"Obviously you will," Draco drawled, "As I have no intention of starving myself, even if it will allow me to avoid you, Potter."

"I thought you agreed to call me Harry," the brunet protested, "Remember? After I returned your wand we agreed to let the past go."

"If I remember correctly you refused to return my wand until after I had made that promise," Draco snarked, fingering the wand that was always within reach; "However, I did agree, so; I shall see you at dinner, Harry." Draco gave a mocking bow and then turned left towards the dungeons, his robes snapping in a way that would have made Snape proud. Harry grinned, feeling inordinately pleased with himself.

"Later, Draco!" he called after the retreating blond, and then headed up to the tower to write to Andromeda and Teddy.

After the war was over Harry had stayed with the Tonks for a while, and he had agreed to let Andromeda raise his godson as he still needed to finish school. Andromeda and Ted were comforted by having their grandson with them, and Harry wasn't ready to be a parent; a doting uncle was more his speed at the moment. Although Harry was staying at Hogwarts for the majority of the holidays, he would be spending Christmas Eve and Day with the Tonks and he was looking forward to seeing Teddy again.

That was still a couple weeks away though, and Harry would need to find something to keep himself busy. As he made his way up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower the image of grey eyes and blond hair flashed through his mind, and Harry grinned; he knew just was he could do for the next few weeks.

HDHDHDHDHDHDHDHD

"Potter," Harry paused briefly when he heard the familiar voice, but then continued walking, "Potter, are you ignoring me?" He smiled to himself as he heard footsteps hurrying to catch up with him, and then, "Harry!"

"Huh? Oh, hey Draco," Harry said pleasantly, "I didn't hear you."

"Liar," Draco scowled, "Stupid prat. Where are you headed?" Harry resumed walking with Draco falling into step beside him.

"The library," Harry replied, frowning, "I was going to start on some of our holiday assignments. Unless, of course, you have an idea for something better we can do?" He looked over at Draco hopefully, his heart skipping at the blond's smirk.

They were a week into the Christmas Holidays, and the two formal rivals had spent a portion of everyday together. They had raced across the Quidditch pitch on their brooms, charmed the suits of armor to sing Christmas carols, and they had also snuck up to the Room of Requirement (which had healed from the disastrous Fiendfyre, although the Room of Lost Things could no longer be accessed) a few times to get away from the suspicious eyes of Headmistress McGonagall. Everyday Harry started off planning to do work in the library, and everyday Draco provided a welcomed distraction so that the work never got done.

"Sorry, Harry," Draco was smirking, "I will not have Granger hexing me for distracting you from your schoolwork. Today we will complete our holiday assignments, that way we can enjoy Christmas when it comes next week."

"Traitor," Harry pouted, dropping his book bag on the floor and allowing it to drag along behind him as he walked to the library with Draco, "You're supposed to provide a distraction so that I can keep putting this off until the last weekend of holidays."

"So sorry to disappoint," Draco drawled, not sounding sorry at all, "but this _is _our final year of school, and you know our holiday work is a portion of our overall grade; you did still want to be an auror, didn't you Harry?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "I think I've had enough of fighting dark wizards, but I'm not really sure what else I would be good at. Plus, McGonagall really wants me to be an auror…"

"Don't go into it just to please her," Draco frowned, "Or anybody else, for that matter. Being an auror is a dangerous job, and if you don't really want to do it you are apt to get careless and could end up seriously injured…or dead. There is a section in the library on careers; you should take a look at it. One of the books even has a test; there is a potion to test your magical ability as well as questions about your likes, dislikes, how you did in certain subjects in school and so on which will give you a list of careers to look into." Draco paused as they reached the library and Harry opened the doors, allowing the blond to precede him into the room; "There's a table at the back that I like to use." Draco led the way to a small table in the back of the library; it was hidden behind a section of shelves on wizarding finances and law, and was also next to a large window which had a view of the black lake.

"I never knew this was here," Harry said, lifting his bag off the floor; when he set it on the table he made a face at the amount of dust that had accumulated from dragging it on the floor.

"And that is what you get for dragging your bag around like a petulant child," Draco said, casting a quick cleaning charm before reaching into his own bag and pulling out his assignments, "Why don't you get your potions books out; I will help you if you need it, and then you can at least get your least favorite subject out of the way."

"Alright," Harry sighed, pulling out his potions book, "but only because you promised to help me."

"I'll get some research books," Draco offered, after glancing over the assignment, "It says we need to cite at least three different sources for the essay." Harry nodded and read over the assignment himself while Draco went to retrieve the books; he returned a few minutes later carrying two books and followed by a house elf that was carrying another six.

"Just put them on the table," Draco commanded, setting his own books down, "And if we are still here at lunch time bring us some food."

"Yes, young master," the house elf squeaked; it set the books down, bowed, and then popped out.

"I thought students couldn't order the house elf's around," Harry said.

"According to the school rules they can't," Draco replied idly as he flipped open his potions text, "However the house elf's live to serve, and they do not care who they take orders from as long as a student isn't ordering alcohol or something else that is illegal. In addition, the school rules only state that first through seventh years cannot order the house elf's around; as eighth years that rule does not apply to us."

"Oh," was all Harry could think of to say, "Umm, the assignment says that whichever potion we research is the one we will have to make when classes start back; if we research the same potion then we can partner in class?" Harry tried to suggest it nonchalantly, but it came out as a question instead, and he was subjected to a level stare as grey eyes assessed him.

"Do you want to partner with me simply because I excel in potions?"

"What? No!" Harry rushed to assure him, "I mean, Hermione is good in potions too, but that's not the reason. If I work with Hermione she'll wind up taking over and doing the whole thing herself, and then spend a week complaining about how I didn't help; if we get less than a perfect score she'll end up blaming me. When I work with Ron, all he does is distract me from what I'm doing. I don't mind working with Neville really, because he does better when we partner; he says he doesn't get as nervous. I wanted to work with you because, even when we were fighting all the time, you didn't just order me around, you also explained why I needed to stir a certain way or slice instead of sliver; even if you were rather snarky about it. Also I, well, I thought we were friends and-"

"Enough with the Hufflepuff sentiments," Draco interrupted, "You're going to make me sick. Very well Potter-Harry; we can work together in potions…but only if you agree to work with me in Defense as well." Harry grinned at this and nodded his head rapidly.

"Sure! We can do that! Thank-"

"What did I say about Hufflepuff foolishness?" Draco interrupted once again, scowling; Harry noticed, though, that the corner of Draco's mouth twitched as if he was trying not to smile. "Now, if we are going to work together then you need to have a thorough understanding of the potion I have chosen." Draco reached over and opened Harry's potions text to a certain page; "Start reading, and don't even think about starting on your essay until I give you permission; you will have at least a basic understanding before you go into detail and begin researching."

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" Harry asked, sighing when Draco responded with a smirk before the blond turned to his own book. Harry sighed once more, hiding a grin when it made Draco glare at him, and looked down at the book in front of him, resigned to a long afternoon of studying.

HDHDHDHDHDHDHD

"Finally!" Harry slammed the cover of his Transfiguration book, "Done!"

"Quiet, idiot," Draco shook his head, "We are still in the library; do you want Madame Pince to come over here?" Harry shook his head in the negative as he began packing up his books; they had been doing homework a few hours a day for the past three days, and Harry had just finished revising his last assignment after Draco had pointed out a few errors.

"How long have you been finished, Draco?" Harry asked, noticing that the blond was reading a letter written in bright pink ink.

"About an hour," Draco replied, "I used the time to write a letter to Mother and go over some of the family accounts; since I am of age Father has started having me oversee some of the businesses."

"Sounds…boring," Harry made a face, "Arthur started helping me manage the Potter and Black accounts this summer, and it gave me a horrible headache. Luckily, Percy was always good at numbers and he agreed to be my accountant, so all I have to do is read the reports he sends me." Draco hmm'd distractedly, frowning at his letter. "Who's the letter from? I can't imagine your Mum writing in bright pink."

"You're right; Mother would never be so garish. It's from Pansy," Draco said, and Harry immediately scowled, remembering how the girl had tried to turn him over to Voldemort in the last battle; she was finishing her schooling at Beauxbatons, and Harry was more than happy not to see her on a daily basis. "Pansy says that her father has forbidden us to marry-which is a relief to me-and that my parents are in negotiation with the Greengrass family. Daphne is alright, but I know for a fact she has her heart set on Theo, and I don't really know Astoria very well; she's always been very quiet."

"Well, you should probably get to know her better," Harry said with forced calm, "You might actually like her. Um, I'm gonna go put my books away; see you at lunch?" The thought of Draco marrying one of those girls had his stomach in knots, and his imagination was supplying him with ways to dispose of them without getting caught. Of course, Draco was straight, so it didn't really matter what Harry wanted; as long as Draco was happy it was none of his business.

"At lunch?" Draco's tone was disappointed, and Harry saw that the blond was pouting slightly, "I thought perhaps we could have a Seeker's game, to celebrate finishing our holiday work. Did you have something else you needed to do right now?"

"Well, no," Harry admitted, "I do need to go into Hogsmeade and finish my holiday shopping within the next few days though."

"Excellent," Draco said, "Let's meet in the Entrance Hall in…half an hour; I have a few last minute gifts to buy as well. We can have lunch in town and, if it isn't too late, when we return we can have that Seeker's game."

"Okay," Harry agreed, standing up and shouldering his bag, "I'll see you in half an hour." He started walking towards the exit, and then called over his shoulder; "If it takes you more than forty-five minutes to get ready I'm leaving without you." He grinned cheekily at the gobsmacked blond and made his escape before Draco could retaliate.

Later that afternoon…

"Alright, the snitch won't go outside the boundaries of the Quidditch pitch," Draco said, holding the tiny golden ball in his hand, "I'll let it go, and then we'll both go inside the changing rooms for five minutes before we mount our brooms, deal?"

"We'll both go inside the same changing rooms," Harry specified with a cheeky grin, "Wouldn't want your Slytherin ambition to inspire you to peek a little."

"Like I would ever stoop so low," Draco sniffed, "Just for that, I may charm a bludger to follow you around; or perhaps I'll tell Hagrid you really want a blast-ended skrewt for Christmas."

"That's uncalled for," Harry scowled, "If I get a skrewt for Christmas I'm going to have Kreacher send it to your rooms. Come on; we only have a couple hours until suppertime."

Draco nodded and let the snitch go, then he and Harry went in the nearest changing rooms-which happened to belong to Ravenclaw-and waited in companionable silence until the five minutes was up. The boys had left their brooms hovering on the edge of the pitch, so they raced out the doors and quickly mounted their brooms; shooting off into the sky with a whoop of joy from Harry.

For the next twenty minutes the boys focused more on the joy of flying, and practiced daredevil dives. Harry was in the midst of one such dive when he noticed Draco speeding towards the other side of the pitch; Draco had seen the snitch! Harry quickly pulled out of the dive and shot after Draco, but he knew it was likely a lost cause; Draco was on a Firebolt as well, and he was much closer to the snitch.

For his part, Draco was ecstatic; he'd seen the snitch first! Now all he had to do was get to it before Harry; he'd finally be able to prove that he deserved his spot on the Slytherin team. Draco's grin widened when he heard Harry shout out behind him, and he put on an extra burst of speed; the snitch was almost in reach now…he stretched out his hand…and then cried out in shock as what seemed to be a bucket of snow dumped on his head.

"Potter!" He screamed, "You dirty cheat!" The snitch was gone by now, and Draco swung his broom around so that he could glare at Harry. "I almost had it!"

"I didn't do anything!" Harry protested, "I don't know where that snow came from, but it wasn't me!"

"A likely story," Draco sneered, "It doesn't matter if you cheat, Potter; I'll still get to the snitch first-and then you'll pay!" Draco shot towards Harry and the startled brunet rolled over in midair; from his upside-down position he saw that Draco was after the snitch again, and he cursed as he righted himself. He sped after the Slytherin and slowly caught up to him. He was level with the back of Draco's broom; now he was level to his knees…but it was going to be too late. Draco was even now reaching for the snitch, and when Harry put on a final burst of speed he just barely managed to scrape the back of Draco's hand as it closed over the snitch.

"I did it!" Draco cheered, "I caught the snitch!" He smirked and Harry and then waved his wand; "Take that, Potter!" Five snowballs hit Harry in the back of the head in rapid succession, and he glared at the triumphant blond.

"I told you I didn't dump that snow on you," Harry said, "It's on now, Malfoy." Draco's eyes widened as Harry charmed several snowballs to fly at him, and he quickly pocketed the snitch as he dodged the snowballs. Two of them managed to hit, and Draco retaliated with his own barrage of snowballs; while Harry was busy dodging them, Draco quickly created an army of snowmen and directed them to attack Harry.

"Surrender, Potter," Draco commanded, "If you don't surrender then you shall suffer the consequences."

"I'm not scared of you, Malfoy," Harry laughed, and then shouted in alarm as he was hit by snowballs on all sides. He zig-zagged across the pitch and managed to dodge a good number of the snowballs, but there were too many for him to dodge them all, and he wasn't given a chance to retaliate or even put up a shield. How was Draco able to create so many without stopping to rest? As he was hit by several snowballs, Harry heard laughter below him and he looked down to see Draco sitting idly on his broom…while an army of conjured snowmen attacked Harry.

"Malfoy! You cheat!" Harry cried; he angled his broom and dove at the blond. Draco's eyes widened and he swung his broom around, but before he could move too far away Harry had caught up to him and leapt from his broom, knocking both of them to the ground.

"Potter! You maniac! Get off me!" Draco demanded; they rolled around in the snow for a few minutes until Harry finally managed to pin Draco beneath him. "Potter! The snow is ruining my robes!"

"Call off your army and I'll let you up," Harry bargained.

"Fine!" Draco agreed, "Let go of my arms so I can get my wand." Harry narrowed his eyes suspiciously, and let go of one arm; Draco sighed but accepted that Harry wasn't stupid enough to let go of both arms and slipped his wand out of the wrist holster. A flick of the wand and "finite incantum" and the snowmen were gone.

"Now will you let me up?" Draco asked.

Harry looked down at the blond, and thought he looked very attractive with his face pink from the cold and his blond hair spread out in the snow. His grey eyes showed exasperation…but also held a hint of amusement, and his pink lips were slightly parted as he panted from exertion. When Draco quirked an eyebrow at him, Harry gave up on denying his feelings and leaned forward press his lips to Draco's. Draco's lips were soft, he noted, and he tasted sweet and…he wasn't kissing back. In fact, Draco had frozen beneath him, and was barely even breathing.

"Oh god," Harry whispered as he broke the kiss, "Draco…I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me; I know you're not gay and you have to find a wife and I promise I'll never kiss you again and-"

"Potter?" Draco interrupted, "Do shut up." Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's neck and pulled him back down for another kiss, one in which he eagerly participated in. When Harry licked Draco's bottom lip the blond willingly granted him entrance, and their tongues dueled as Draco tangled his hands in incredibly messy dark hair. Harry was propping himself up with one arm, and the other hand was caressing Draco's cheek. They lay there kissing for several minutes before Draco tugged to pull Harry's head up.

"Not that I'm not enjoying myself," Draco smirked, "but perhaps we can take this somewhere else? Maybe even somewhere with a nice, warm fire?"

"Right," Harry agreed, getting up and then helping Draco to his feet, "The shack?" He jerked his head towards the forbidden forest; on the edge of the tree line, where the Whomping Willow used to be, there was now a door in the ground, behind which was the passage to the Shrieking Shack. McGonagall had given the fifth through eighth years the task of turning the Shrieking Shack into a common area for all the houses to gather, and they were given permission to use it whenever they wanted, as the ghosts and house elves had access to it.

"That's acceptable," Draco nodded, grabbing his broom; he followed Harry through the passage and, once inside the Shrieking Shack, they lit a fire. Draco summoned a house elf to bring them food, and then he reached into his robe pocket to pull out a bottle which, one restored to the proper size, turned out to be Elven Wine. They sat on a soft rug in front of the fire and Draco conjured two wine glasses.

"This is just to help warm us up," Draco said as he poured them each a small glass of wine, "After being shoved in the snow I find myself to be rather cold." He mock scowled at Harry, who gave him an unimpressed look.

"That's what you get for conjuring an army of snowmen instead of fighting me yourself," Harry told him.

"It's called delegation, Potter," Draco drawled, "Why fight myself when I can get someone else to do it for me? It's much safer that way. At least, it's safer until a crazy Gryffindor decides to jump off his broom and try to suffocate you in the snow." Harry shook his head with a laugh and took a sip of his wine before reaching for one of the sandwiches that the house elf had brought.

The two former rivals sat in silence for a while as they drank their wine and ate an early supper; once the food was gone the empty plates disappeared, and Draco set his wine on the floor beside him before stretching out his legs and leaning back on his arms. After a few minutes Harry set his glass aside as well, and then turned to lie on his stomach, resting his head on his arms as he looked at the elegant blond beside him.

"So, about earlier," Harry began, and Draco tilted his head to indicate he was listening, "With the…with the kiss."

"What about it?" Draco inquired, "It was nice, even if I was worried I might get frostbite from lying in the snow." He paused for a moment and then turned his gaze on the fire as he asked, "Are you going to do it again?" Draco's face was flushed, but Harry figured that could be from sitting close to the fire…or possibly the wine. The blond's expression gave him no clues to what he was thinking.

"Do you want me to do it again?" Harry asked after a few seconds of silence; he desperately wanted to kiss Draco again, and he thought that Draco had wanted it as well when he suggested they relocate to somewhere warmer, but now he wasn't so sure. He didn't want to attack the Slytherin again and risk this new friendship they had.

"You can't answer a question with a question," Draco chastised, "If you don't want to kiss me that's fine, but if that's the case we should probably get back up to the castle." After a moment Harry realized that Draco had basically asked him for another kiss…or perhaps he had demanded one, in his round-about, Slytherin way. Harry rolled over so that he was lying on his back, and then reached one hand out to Draco.

"Come here," he said softly; he could sense Draco hesitate for a moment, but then the blond took his hand and Harry tugged, pulling Draco closer.

Draco was sitting right next to him now, looking down at him with uncertainty in his stormy eyes. Harry reached up to place one hand behind Draco's neck and drew the other boy down until their lips met. He felt Draco sigh against his mouth, and then the blond slid down until he was more comfortable, lying almost on top of Harry. They broke the kiss after just a few minutes, and Draco rested his head on Harry's chest.

The two boys spent the rest of the evening talking quietly about their friends, their families, and what type of career they wanted after graduation. They discussed the years they spent fighting, and were amazed that it all stemmed from Draco mocking Harry's first friend; they had realized over the past couple of weeks that they had much in common, and now they mourned the friendship they could have had. The warmth of the fire made them drowsy, and before long they fell asleep on the floor of the Shrieking Shack. The past was gone, unchangeable, and the future was unknown, but the two former rivals didn't mind; right here, in this moment, they had each other, and life was wonderful.


End file.
